Painting wood is a sin

[jartzh]

I have always told my kids that I dont paint any of my pieces because the wood is too pretty to cover with paint. I tell them if I wanted a painted something then wood would be my last choice of material.

Can someone who carves in basswood and then paints tell me why they use basswood? I am assuming that there is an alternative (plastic/clay/...)

[Paul_Guraedy]

I suspect part of the answer to your questiion can be found in your post on " your favorite carving wood".

Originally Posted by jartzh

Why exclude basswood. Its at the bottom of my list, along with sugar pine. Basswood has no character. I think the question would be painted vs non painted.

As far as carving in basswood rather than working in plastic or clay is concerned, I would say because I like working with basswood and then I chose to paint it. Why an artist creates the pieces that they do is a very personal thing. When asked why I did something the way I did I answer "....because I wanted to!"

I would ask, is a carving somehow degraded because it is painted?

[bird carver]

Paul has said it a nutshell. To each their own Smile bird carver

[JIM QUILICI]

my wife said "should I put on make up ".......I said "if the barn door needs painting paint it.".........so thats why I paint all my carvings. lol
Jim

[DADDIO]

wooaahh man.... jim don't know if i'd of told mine that...next thing ya know comes the,you saying i look like a barn door??? you saying i'm as big as a barn door??..... lol hey too each his own i used to not paint mine either just a stain,but got to where i kinda like painting them now.

[jartzh]

If you see a decoy of a duck that looks exactly like a duck. Do you care if its basswood inside or plastic?

Is a cigar store indian out of walnut better painted or with a clear finish?

Dont mean to argue, just trying to start a conversation about a subject that I have often debated.

[Paul_Guraedy]

I don’t feel that it is an argument. I do think that painting vs. natural wood is one of those areas where woodcarvers are going to find disagreement. Some of the others are hand vs. power, to sand or not to sand and one block of wood vs. inserts. There is one nationally recognized carver/instructor who is famous for rejecting “V” tools. It is my belief that these are areas of personal choice and any one method is not necessarily superior to or more artistic than another.

You asked, “If you see a decoy of a duck that looks exactly like a duck. Do you care if its basswood inside or plastic?” There is a simple answer from my standpoint. NO! To me the important question for the duck would be was it made by hand and, if so, how (cast, carved or some other method). Was it painted by hand or by a machine? Was the painting general colors or was there shading and detailing? All of this would change the way I would view it. But then, I would not care too much one way or the other unless it was hand carved from wood. This would peak my interest as to the level of carving and painting.

I find this question a lot more interesting “Is a cigar store Indian out of walnut better painted or with a clear finish?” My initial response is the same, No; I would not consider either one to be intrinsically better than the other. But then, I also ask myself, “Why would someone go to the effort of carving a cigar store Indian from walnut and then paint it?” I am not asking from the standpoint of the wood but from both the expense and effort involved. The wood would be invisible so why not use something like basswood?

From a personal standpoint, I have to admit that I have never painted a carving that was from a piece of “interesting” wood. I think basswood has a number of things going for it, cheap, readily available, holds detail fairly well, grain is usually easy to deal with. On the other hand it is a rather blah wood and needs something (paint, stain, burn) to make it interesting. I also refuse to limit myself to woods that “look beautiful” for my carvings. The piercing look of a bald eagle has been done well with natural finishes. But, I have not seen anything with only the wood showing that can compare with what a really good carver/painter can accomplish with basswood and paint.

Judgments are subjective and each carving must stand on its own as it receives widely varying ratings from each different beholder.

[JIM QUILICI]

when someone says That i should not paint my carving I just tell that I'm really worried about them getting very very tired.......... trying to take care and manage their carving and mine too. lol
Jim

[gene-messer]

I like to paint my caricatures .. but most carvers dont just paint .. they use a paint wash that doesn't hide the wood ..

To tell you the truth .. you have some carvers on this board that are as good of painters as they are carvers .. and their painting just adds to the piece ..

Look at Lynn's painting of his piece's .. Forrest painting of his aged wood piece's .. Susans Santa's ... Mark's Santa's .. Doris piece's ... And I could go on and on of the artistic talent on this board .. Their artistic talent of their painting just create's a more beautiful and fantastic piece ..

Just go and look at some their carvings and your see why they do what they do ..

Thanks

Gene

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Oh My God!!!! Does this mean that half of us are going straight to HELL???? If so then Woodcarving Illustrated is going in that direction to as they are a semi -spokesman for the Devil as at least half of their articles involve paint of some kind. I guess you don't even apply any kind of finish as if you use that digusting BLO or any kind of varnish you are applying a finish different that the wood would appear in it's natural state.

All I can say is that I sure hope Global Warming is syphoning off some of that heat down there cause it's going to be home to lots of us woodcarvers.

As for applying paint....I always tell new carvers that if they use a good exterior latex, the real thick kind, it will hide a lot of their mistakes. I think thats what we ought to do with this thread.....slap on a few coats of thick latex! Do you think I'm a little biased? Nah!!!